INVESTIGATION OF THE STRUCTURAL, MORPHOLOGICAL, AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF BARIUM HEXAFERRITE/TITANIA NANOCOMPOSITE

Abstract

Currently, demand for magnetic materials across various industrial sectors continues to grow. Among hard magnetic ferrites, barium hexaferrite is widely used due to its ability to retain magnetization after removal of the external magnetic field. Despite these advantages, its relatively high density and tendency to agglomerate can limit its use in certain applications. Therefore, titania was incorporated as a complementary phase to modify the properties of barium hexaferrite. This study presents a simple and modular approach for preparing a barium hexaferrite/titania nanocomposite through separate coprecipitation and sol–gel routes, followed by wet mixing of 0.6 g of barium hexaferrite and 0.4 g of titania. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized using XRD, SEM-EDX mapping, FTIR, and VSM. The XRD pattern revealed the formation of barium hexaferrite and anatase titania phases, with crystallite sizes of 62.12 and 15.26 nm, respectively, along with hematite and barium carbonate impurity phases. The FTIR spectrum showed characteristic bands associated with Ba–O, Fe–O, Ti–O, C–O, and O–H bonds. SEM-EDX mapping analysis revealed a dense and aggregated morphology with relatively uniform surface topography, containing Ba, Fe, Ti, and O. The VSM hysteresis curve demonstrated ferrimagnetic behavior, with Ms, Mr, and Hc values ​​of 18.86 emu/g, 7.88 emu/g, and 4663 Oe, respectively.